X-Rites Impact on Digital Workflows: Virtualizing Color and Appearance to Improve Product Visualization

The appearance of a product, especially its color and material, holds significant sway over how consumers perceive it. If color and appearance don't match when parts are assembled, potential buyers might think twice before purchasing.

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As more brands and suppliers embrace digital workflows to streamline product development and minimize waste, there's a need to go beyond just considering color.

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For many companies, embracing digital color involves incorporating standards based on the spectral data measured by a spectrophotometer. This digital standard is shared along the supply chain to make sure the color is right at every step, from pre-production to production and quality control. The spectral data is used in formulating software and quality control tools, facilitating precise color matching and production.

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However, relying solely on spectral data to digitize color does not consider the real-world materials needed for digital design and visualization workflows. While spectral data can be useful, it doesn't capture the nuances of actual materials. This limitation hinders the creation of a realistic digital material twin, preventing the visualization of how a color will appear on a material for virtual prototyping or quality control.

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Consider the following scenario: An apparel brand designer selects Turtle Green, Pantone 17-0330 TCX, for an upcoming collection. The color will be used across meshes, velvets, satins, and leathers. Although each of these materials is the same color, the final appearance will differ based on the texture, weave, and shine.?

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It's crucial, therefore, to digitize both color and material appearance characteristics, as different surfaces can show variations in color due to factors like texture, reflectivity, and underlying hues.

Uniform vs. Spatially Varying Materials

Surfaces and materials come in various types:

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●?????? Uniform materials have consistent properties across the entire surface, making them suitable for objects or surfaces that require a consistent appearance.

●?????? Spatially varying materials have properties that change across different areas of the surface, introducing complexities when capturing and reproducing dynamic variations.

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Both types of materials present unique challenges when digitizing color and material appearance characteristics. While uniform materials are straightforward in consistency, it can be a challenge to digitally replicate realistic nuances. Spatially varying materials, with their dynamic variations, introduce additional complexities in the digital representation process.

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This is where X-Rite comes in. With over 60 years of experience in color manufacturing, X-Rite provides reliable measurement solutions to capture and quantify appearance aspects for both uniform and spatially varying materials.

X-Rites Commitment to Digital Workflow Advancements

To improve the virtualization process, X-Rite developed the appearance exchange format (AxF)? file format to make it easier to capture and manage complex visual appearance data in a single, editable file.

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Technological advancements and AxF now offer a cost-effective and user-friendly way to characterize appearance and create digital material twins using spectrophotometers with appearance and visualization software. This file format establishes a standardized way to store and share comprehensive appearance data, including:

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·? ?? Color

·? ?? Texture

·? ?? Gloss

·? ?? Refraction

·? ?? Translucence

·? ?? Special effects (such as sparkles)

·? ?? Reflection properties

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These files are easy to edit and move around and can be used with different CAD, PLM, and 3D rendering solutions.

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Whether dealing with uniform or spatially varying materials, X-Rite offers a dependable solution for accurate measurement. The capabilities of AxF and its smooth integration with applications like PANTORA further highlight X-Rite's ability to advance digital workflows to represent color and material for brands and suppliers across diverse industries.